Official Book 



Fort Armstrong Centennial 

Celebration 




1816 1916 



OFFICIAL BOOK 

OF THE 

Fort Armstrong Centennial Celebration 
June 18th -24th, 1916 

Rock Island and Moline, Illinois 
and Davenport, Iowa 

1816-1916 

Prepared by 

The I^ock Island County Historical Society 
and The Historical Section of the Davenport Academy of Sciences 



ailllllllllllllv 



Rock Island, 111. 

E. O. Vaile, Jr. 

1916 






K6> 



Copyright 1916 
E. O. Vaile, Jr. 



Engravings by 
Photo Art Engraving Co. 
26 1916 Rock Island, Illinois 

Printing and Binding by 

Fidlar & Chambers 

Davenport, Iowa 



©CI. 



A483606 




Copper Axe, 
Curved-ba 



with cloth 
Pipe 



Handwork of the Mound Builders 

Flint Spearhead 
Ornamental Pot 
im local mounds are in the Davenport Academy of Sc 



Stone Axe 
Curved-base Stone Pipe 



Before the White Man Came 

By Edward K. Putnam 




sHEN the white man "discovered" America, the land 
!"\X7$1 was already occupied hy a red skinned race now 
* known in a general way as American Indians. The 
first whites were pleased to call these people sav- 
ages, but in reality they had a civilization of their 
own which in four regions on the two continents had reached a 
remarkably high standard of culture. These four regions were 
the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys, the home of the" so-called 
Mound Builders ; Mexico, of the Aztecs ; Central America, of 
the Mayas; and Peru, of the Incas. The region up and down 
the Mississippi and Rock Rivers within fifty miles of Fort Arm- 
strong contains hundreds of the earthen mounds built by these 
early people. Just when they were built is difficult to say ; 
more than that it was before contact with the whites. From 
the objects found in these mounds can be gained a good idea of 
their culture. One of the largest collections of these objects is 
found in the Museum of the Davenport Academy of Sciences. 
They belonged to the stone age, as shown by their stone axes, 
flint spear heads and arrow heads, carved pipes, and many other 
implements and ceremonial objects. They had developed the 
art of pottery-making and also the making of bone and shell 
articles. They wove cloth and mats. They worked in the 
native copper by hammering it into form, although they did not 



understand melting or hardening it. They had developed agri- 
culture, hunting, and fishing. They were travelers or traders, 
because in a single mound might be found copper from Michi- 
gan, shells from the Gulf of Mexico, mica from Eastern Ten- 
nessee, and obsidian from the Black Hills. They had a sense 
of the artistic, especially in the use of ornament, and it seems 
an appreciation of landscape as shown by their selection of 
high bluffs with a wide outlook for their groups of mounds. 

Probably a part of the same race were the Indians who still 
inhabited the country when settled by the whites. The special 
tribe of Indians associated with this immediate locality was the 
"Sacs and Foxes," or more probably the Sauks and Meskwakis. 
The term Reynards or Foxes was used erroneously by the 
French. The two tribes were so closely allied as to be regarded 
as practically one tribe. They belonged to the Algonquin stock. 
These Indians had come from the Green Bay region and at the 
end of the eighteenth century had their large settlement at the 
junction of the Rock River with the Mississippi. This was the 
tribe of Black Hawk, Keokuk, Poweshiek, and many famous 
chiefs. When finally moved to the Indian Territory and Kan- 
sas, part of the tribe, chiefly the Meskwakis or Foxes returned 
to Iowa and now live in Tama Countv. 




Antoine Le Claire 




Col. George Davenport 



To the Pioneers 

By Alice French, "Octave Thanet" 




X general we think little enough of the makers of our 
country, the men and women to whose sacrifices and 
whose courage we owe our days of luxury. But 
once in a while our sloth is prodded into attention. 
For a little space we remember. Then we recognize 
something of the immeasurable debt which we owe to the Pio- 
neers. 

A hundred years ago where were our great warehouses and 
factories, or the mansions and the gardens full of delicate 
pleasures and beauty which are on every hill ? For one moment 
let us pause to salute the vanished courage and endurance and 
vision which gave them to us. 

Let us think of the builders of Fort Armstrong and of the 
men and women who dared all the perils of the wilderness to 
raise their log cabins where now are busy streets and marvels 
of light and transit beyond their dreams of witchcraft. For a 
moment let us salute the hard hands, the keen eyes, the swift 
feet, the strong hearts of the past. 

Do we realize what we owe these strong, inarticulate souls? 
They did their amazing work unconscious, themselves, how 
greatly they wrought. In the span of a single century they 
transformed a wilderness into an empire. Rome had not its 
power or its wealth. 

Abraham Lincoln was a type of their sinewy force. He had 



their broad but kindly humor, their essential cleanliness of soul 
if not always of speech, their indomitable courage, their dogged 
patience, their breadth of vision which came from solitary 
living in wide spaces, their patriotism, and their deep tender- 
ness of heart. 

Perhaps from some of the itinerant preachers of the time 
Lincoln learned the eloquence which should become a part of 
our habitual thought. These men often had a rude force of 
speech ; sometimes they rose to heights ; often their appeal was 
permeated with the noblest and simplest diction in the world, 
that of the Bible. 

The life of the pioneers was bare and rugged. They had 
toil, privation, danger. They died untended in lonely forests ; 
they had no easement of pain in their wounds of battle or am- 
bush ; there were but meagre medicaments of herbs for the 
fevers that came out of the swamp ; the ghastly stories of 
massacre and torture which were told at every fireside any time 
might have ghastly confirmation. There were few pleasures 
and those of the rudest. Yet on the whole it may be questioned 
if their life was not happier than ours. It was a full life. It 
had the joy of work and accomplishment. It was interesting. 
If it had not the beauty of art, it had the beauty of nature to 
sweeten it. And it had all the primitive happiness of family 
love and comradeship. It had the throbbing excitement of 







•6B 








Showing the Sears' mills, the fir 



Early Moline, about 1840 

factories, and the brush dam, the first dam to be built in the Mississippi Riv 



combat with man or nature, and the exultant thrill of victory. 
Probably the Pioneers wasted little time or misery on analyzing 
their own emotions, and less on uplifting their neighbors. 
Their imagination and their invention took the practical lane of 
better cultivation of their fields and better ways of travel. 
When it did wander into the fields of beginning finance and 
started banks and paper money which should pay itself out of 
future prosperity it went the usual rapid pace to misfortune. 
But this is really a later story. 

In time men of lineage and education came to Illinois and to 
Iowa. It will be interesting to Iowans to learn that Illinois 
settlements had a sad reputation, even so early as the days of 
Richard Flower, who settled in Albion in the first half of the 
nineteenth century. A lady of Philadelphia said to him : 
"Friend Flower, wilt thou take thy family to that infidel and 
wicked settlement in Illinois ?" 

Nevertheless Flower, an English gentleman, did settle in 
Illinois and prospered and was happy. 

A score of names will instantly come to us, among the later 
Pioneers, names still honored on both sides of the great river. 
Clark, the explorer ; Edwards, the first Illinois governor ; Dun- 
can, the far-sighted ; Ford, who saved the honor of Illinois. 
Locally there were the Wells, Spencer, the Case families ; Sears, 



who developed the local water power ; Stephens, Deere, Weyer- 
hauser, and Denkmann, great pioneer manufacturers ; Buforcl, 
the soldier ; Van Sant, Cable, Mitchell, and many more, and 
over the river the Davenport, Antoine Le Claire, who kept 
faith alike with white man and red ; the Cooks, Price, Van 
Tuyl, Grant, Mitchell, Allen, Burrows, Eldridge, Stibolt, Claus- 
sen, Mueller, Glaspell, merchants, bankers, lawyers, statesmen, 
farmers, alike staunch and true of heart. Nor should we forget 
the priests and the ministers of religion, the Iowa band of the 
Congregationalists, the circuit riders of the Methodists, the 
first Bishops of Illinois and Iowa. Kemper, Lee, Cosgrove, 
alike soldiers of God whatever their banner, Father Pela- 
mourgues, the intrepid Sisters of St. Mary — these are but a 
few of the makers of the three cities. 

And behind the leaders are the strong and silent many who 
fought without flinching, hostile man and hostile nature ; and 
to whose obscure heroism, resourcefulness, and self-sacrifice we 
owe what we have today, not only a material prosperity but in 
the fiber of soul which beneath our seeming softness has their 
iron strain, and shall the need come will enable us like them to 
give all we have and all we are to our country. 

Therefore, we, inheritors of their blood or of their works, 
gratefully and reverentlv salute them. 




Fort Armstrong, about 1845 

From a Daguerreotype 



The Story of Fort Armstrong 



By Orrin S. Holt 




iO properly comprehend the history of Fort Arm- 
strong and the locality in which it stood, one must 
go back to the time of the discovery of America to 
get the sequence of events which had to do with its 
building. Every maritime nation of the world en- 
deavored to share in the results of the discovery of the new 
continent. 

Spain sought treasure, tribute from the natives, and religious 
conquest. France sought commerce and religious converts, 
while colonists from other countries sought homes and escape 
from persecution. Spain conquered, robbed, and destroyed the 
natives ; France preached to them, lived with them, and inter- 
married with them ; while the colonists, who later became 
known as Americans, ruthlessly pushed the Indians before 
them, taking their lands for cultivation and permanent settle- 
ment. 

Following a period of discovery, conquest, colonization, and 
national rivalry, came a time when Mexico, including Texas, 
the Southwest, and California, was dominated by Spain ; the 
thirteen original colonies by England ; and Canada and Louisi- 
ana by France. The territory included in the Louisiana Pur- 
chase, of which Iowa was a part, after its savage ownership be- 
longed first to France and then to Spain. Napoleon compelled 
its relinquishment to France in 1801, but when he proposed to 

— 11- 



occupy it the United States objected with the result that the 
United States acquired it by purchase in 1803. After the war 
with Mexico another immense piece of former Spanish territory 
was acquired by the United States, which included Texas and 
California and the intervening territory. But for these acquisi- 
tions the United States would have been bounded by the Mis- 
sissippi River on the west and we should have had a powerful 
neighbor with whom to divide honors. 

Hand in hand religious zeal and commercial ambition lead 
the French priests and explorers, by the way of the St. 
Lawrence and the Great Lakes, far into the interior of North 
America when it was an unknown wilderness to the rest of the 
world. In 1608, twelve years before the landing at Plymouth 
Rock, Champlain planted the first French coiony at Quebec. 
In 1634 Jean Nicolet, the French explorer, reached Saulte Ste. 
Marie at the outlet of Lake Superior. Eventually French 
priests and explorers endeavored to connect Canada and Louisi- 
ana by means of a line of forts and missions. Marquette and 
Joliet, priest and explorer, opened the way in 1673. when they 
made their memorable trip from Mackinac through Green Bay 
and the Fox River, over the portage, and down the Wisconsin 
River to its mouth. They arrived at the Mississippi River 
June 17th and must have passed the island of Rock Island a 
short time after. This explorer and his companion priest con- 




Fort Armstrong, Davenport, Rock Island, and Moline. r{ 

From a painting by J. C. Wild 



tinned to the mouth of the Arkansas River, and returning, 
passed up the Illinois River and entered Lake Michigan at the 
present site of Chicago. In 1681 the illustrious La Salle traced 
the Mississippi River to its mouth, and with him originated the 
idea of circumventing the colonies of England on the Atlantic 
shore with a band of French territory, which should enable 
France to possess the great river valleys of the interior and the 
better part of the continent. In this ambitious purpose they 
sought opportunity for missionary work and commercial ad- 
vantage rather than colonization. 

England entertained views similar to those of France as to 
the destiny of the interior. The King of England decreed that 
it should be the perpetual home of the natives and forbade his 
subjects to encroach beyond the territory whose waters flowed 
into the Atlantic. The colonists, however, looked with covetous 
eyes on the rich agricultural lands west of the Allegheny Moun- 
tains, and in spite of the King's command began to seek homes 
beyond the western frontier. The rival claims of England and 
France to the interior, brought on a clash between the English 
colonists and the Canadian-French in which the mother coun- 
tries, being hereditary enemies, naturally joined. When these 
conflicts finally ended the claim of France to Canada was ex- 
tinguished and England succeeded to her claims in the North- 
west. The conquest of Canada by England failed to settle the 
controversy over the possession of the interior. The Revolu- 
tionary War broke out soon after and at its termination the 
English colonists became a new and independent nation, suc- 
ceeding to England's original claim to the interior, while Eng- 
land had succeeded to that of France. The same contest con- 
tinued with a new alignment of parties. 



The French had fraternized with the Indians and generally 
were at peace with them. When England conquered New 
France the French frontier-men remained as British subjects 
and England succeeded to some extent to the good will of the 
Indians toward the French. The Americans, however, being 
colonists and desiring land possessions, were cordially hated 
and distrusted by the natives. These facts explain to some ex- 
tent the attitude of the Indians in the controversy which fol- 
lowed over the possession of the valley of the Mississippi in 
1812-1814. It was the pro-British attitude of the Indians that 
called for the building of Fort Armstrong. 

That the territory now occupied by Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
Michigan, and Wisconsin is a part of the United States and not 
of Canada, is due largely to the enterprise and military skill of 
Gen. George Rogers Clark. His success as the representa- 
tive of the commonwealth of Virginia in gaining possession of 
the Illinois country, put America in a position to maintain the 
Great Lakes as her northern boundary at the close of the next 
important military event in our history, the second war with 
Great Britain, the War of 1812. During Clark's conquest of 
the Illinois territory, which was coincident with the War of 
the Revolution, Clark sent a detachment under Col. John Mont- 
gomery in 1780 to subdue the Sac and Fox Indians which re- 
sulted in the burning of the Indian town of Saukenuk. This 
was a local event of the Revolutionary War. 

In 1805, following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, Zebulon 
Pike, after whom Pike's Peak was named, made a tour of ex- 
ploration through the west in the interest of the government. 
A part of his mission was to conciliate the Indians and win 
their allegiance from Great Britain. An interesting incident of 



13- 







Monument on Campbell's Island 




Major Zachary Taylor 

In command at the Battle of Credit Island 



his trip was the raising of the first American flag in this part of 
America, when he visited the Indian town of Saukenuk, near 
the mouth of Rock River. Here he found the flag of England 
flying. He presented the Indians with the Stars and Stripes, 
which they consented to raise ; but they refused to take down 
their British flag, claiming to desire friendship with both 
countries. 

Tn this age of rapid transit and instantaneous communica- 
tion, it taxes our imagination to realize the conditions existing 
in the days when the west was the subject of controversy be- 
tween the United States and Great Britain. It took bravery 
and patriotism of a high order to go hundreds of miles into the 
Indian infested interior with no means of transportation, except 
canoes and keel boats, with only Indian trails, and no means of 
communication between distant points. These conditions ex- 
isted at the outbreak of the War of 1812, two battles of which 
were fought near the island of Rock Island in 1814. 

Governor William Clark, made famous by the Lewis and 
Clark Expedition to the Pacific coast and a brother of Gen. 
George Rogers Clark, left St. Louis in the spring of 1814 with a 
military expedition for Prairie du Chien, captured that British 
out-post, and built the first American fort north of Alton. Upon 
Clark's return to St. Louis an expedition was started under 
the command of Capt. John Campbell to reinforce the garrison 
left at Prairie du Chien. When the expedition got as far as 
the mouth of Rock River, it fell in with Indians in considerable 
numbers, who manifested no hostility. After Campbell had 
passed on up the river, a messenger from the British com- 
mander in the north arrived and notified the Indians that it was 
their duty as, British allies to comply with their promise to pre- 



vent any Americans from ascending the river. Thereupon 
Black Hawk and his band followed Campbell's boats, and over- 
took them at an island about five miles above the island of Rock 
Island, which, from this circumstance, has since been known as 
Campbell's Island. Finding the boats hampered by the swift 
current of the rapids and a high wind, one boat having been 
driven ashore, the Indians attacked and defeated them, destroy- 
ing one of Campbell's three boats, killing sixteen men, and 
wounding others, including the commander, and compelled their 
return to St. Louis. Upon their arrival, another and larger 
expedition came up the river under command of Major Zachary 
Taylor, who afterwards attained distinction in the Mexican 
War and as President of the United States. The purpose of 
this expendition, which consisted of 334 men in nine keel-boats, 
was to punish the Indians for their attack on Campbell's party 
and to establish a fort near the Indian village, which should 
keep the Indians in check, and the line of communication open 
to points up the river. In the meantime the British had re- 
captured the post at Prairie du Chien and Lieut. Graham 
had descended to the island of Rock Island with British soldiers 
and several cannon, to assist the Indians in blockading the river 
at that point. When Major Taylor's expedition reached the 
mouth of Rock River it encountered a wind storm so severe as 
to make it necessary for him to land. He chose as a landing 
place a willow island near the Iowa shore about two miles be- 
low the island of Rock Island, and about sixty yards above 
Credit Island, now known as Suburban Island. Lieut. Gra- 
ham, of whose presence Major Taylor was ignorant, taking 
advantage of the storm and the darkness of the following night, 
removed his men and cannon across the main channel of the 



river, through what is now the business section of Davenport, 
to an advantageous point for an attack at daylight. The un- 
expected onslaught by British regulars armed with cannon and 
reinforced by 1,500 native warriors, was more than Major 
Taylor was able to face, so he abandoned the purpose of his 
mission, retreated as far as Warsaw, and built Fort Edwards 
instead. 

Three successive defeats in one year convinced the Americans 
that all prospects of controlling the valley of the upper Missis- 
sippi depended upon subduing these war-like natives. Con- 
sequently in September, 1815, the Eighth United States In- 
fantry, under command of Col. R. C. Nicholas, was sent from 
St. Louis to establish a fort on or near the island of Rock 
Island. This expedition reached the mouth of the Des Moines 
River in November where they were stopped by ice and re- 
mained through the winter. Col. William Lawrence succeeded 
to the command during the winter. The following April Brig. 
Gen. Thomas A. Smith with his regiment arrived, took com- 
mand, and proceeding up the river arrived at the island of Rock 
Island, May 10, 18 16. Gen. Smith endeavored to meet the Sac 
and Fox Indians in council but they refused to attend. 

There were about 11,000 Indians in the vicinity at that time. 
Their principal village, Saukenuk, was on Rock River where 
their council house stood. Their settlement and corn fields 
covered the islands in Rock River and the point of land between 
the rivers at their confluence, as well as both sides of the Mis- 
sissippi River in the neighborhood of the island of Rock Island. 
This was the largest Indian settlement in this part of the coun- 
try and one of the largest in North America. Their numbers 
and pro-British sympathies made them an important element in 



the controversy over possession of the Mississippi Valley. Fort 
Armstrong, which their presence made necessary, was of the 
ordinary frontier type, but usually striking in appearance, due 
to its location on the precipitous ledge of rock, forming the 
lower point of the island of Rock Island. 

The name "Rock Island," which this island has borne since 
it had a name, was applied because of its striking contrast to 
the other islands in the river which are generally alluvial with 
low sloping shores. The island has been in the continuous 
possession of the government of the United States since the 
Indians parted with it by treaty in 1804, although Col. George 
Davenport and David B. Sears were each allowed, by special 
acts of Congress, to secure title to parts of it, in consideration 
of services rendered to the government. Subsequently their 
holdings were appraised and taken back by the government 
when it was determined to establish the Rock Island Arsenal. 

Chief Black Hawk called Rock Island the most beautiful 
island in the Mississippi, and white men evidently shared in his 
opinion for its early history is a series of efforts by private in- 
dividuals to get possession on every possible pretext. To 
Jefferson Davis belongs principal credit for the preservation 
of the island to the United States government for military pur- 
poses. During the Black Hawk War he had abundant oppor- 
tunity to become familiar with it and its environment. He 
thought, and many prominent men then and since agreed with 
him, that the island was particularly adapted to the uses of the 
government. They appreciated its advantageous location, its 
water power possibilities, and the proximity of fuel and timber. 
As an army officer, as a United States Senator, and as Secre- 
tary of War he championed its preservation ; and it seems the 




EXTRACT FROM THE REPORT OF major mmarston. OF the sisinfty 

TO MAJOR GENL MACOMB- COMMANDING 5I£ MILITARY DEPARTMENT 
DATED. FORT ARM5TR0NG. ROCK ISLAND, 
SEPT. IOIB 1819 

THISFORT 15 ABOUT 270FEET SQUARE WITH THREE BLOCK HOUSES, MOUNTING 
THREE 6P0UNDEFSS. THE BARRACKS ARE WELL CONSTRUCTED OF HEWN TIMBE^.AND 
ARE SUFFICIENTLY EXTENSIVE TO QUARTER THREE COMPANIES. THE MAGAZINE IS 
OF STONE AND WELL BUILT THE COMMANDING OFFICER'S QUARTERS CONSIST OF A 
CENTER TWO STORY BUILDING 28 FEET IN LENGTH, WITH WINGS OFONE STORY 
15 FEET IN LENGTH AND PIAZZAS BUILT IN FRONT AND REAR. THE FORT IS BUILT 
ON THE LOWER POINT OF ROCK ISLAND, AND UPON A PERPENDICULAR BANK OF 
LIME5T0NE OF ABOUT 25 FT. IN HEIGHT, ITCOMPLETELY COMMANDS BOTH 
CHANNELS OF THE RIVER. THE GARRISON IS A GREAT CHECK UPON THE INDIANS 
IN THIS COUNTRY AND FROM ITS CENTRAL SITUATION, IT APPEARS TO ME TO BE 
A STATION OF CONSIDERABLE IMPORTANCE' AN EXPRESS COULD REACH THIS IN 
TEN DAYS FROM COUNCIL BLUFFS, ON THE MISSOURI, AND IN THE SAME TIME 
FROM THE MOUTH OF THE RIVER ST PETERS. AND FROM FORT DEARBORN , AND IN 
FIFTEEN DAYS FROM FORT HOWARD. AND FIVE FROM ST.LOUIS. THE 50ILOFTHIS 
ISLAND APPEARS TO BE GOOD. AND IT CONTAINS A GOOD SUPPLY 0FW0OD FOR FUEL 
AND OTHER PURPOSES, THERE IS ALSO AN EXCELLENT SPRING OF WATER ABOUT 
ONE HUNDRED YARDS FROM THE GARRISON, THERE IS ABOUT FORTY ACRES OF LAND 
IN THE VICINITY OF THE GARRISON CLEARED AND FIT FOR CULTIVATION." 



QUARTERS 
QUARTERS 
QUARTERS 



CE.RSO 
?. 13 & 14 -STONE WORK 
8 -SALLY P0RT5 



SCALE 64 FT TO AN INCH 



irony of fate that it should have been used during' the Civil 
War as the site of a prison for the confinement of his soldiers. 
Fort Armstrong in shape was a rectangular parallelogram 
with its four corners presented to the four points of the com- 
pass. It measured 270 feet on each of its sides. It was pro- 
tected on the north, east, and south angles by block houses, the 
east one being the largest. The south one has now been re- 
stored on its original location as the principal feature of this 
celebration of its one hundreth anniversary. The block houses 
were constructed of hewn timbers cut near the site of the fort. 
They were two stories in height, the upper story being set so 
that its sides came over the angle of the story below, thus pre- 
senting fronts in eight directions. Each story was provided 
with port holes for cannon and muskets, and their hipped 
roofs were surmounted by observatories or lookouts. The lines 
between the north, east, and south block houses were occupied 
by barracks and other buildings in shed form with the high 
point to the outside, so that the sloping roof could be protected 
from within the enclosure. The spaces between these build- 
ings and the block houses were closed by stone walls about four 
feet high which were surmounted by hewn timbers placed one 
upon the other to the height of the barracks buildings. The 
other two sides of the enclosure were the precipitous shores of 
the island. The west angle of the enclosure was occupied by 
the headquarters building. This was about 20x30 feet in size, 
and two stories high, flanked on each end by immense outside 
stone chimneys and outside of these were small one-story 
wings. On the east and west fronts were large porches. The 
one on the west, two. stories high, afforded a beautiful view, 
with the broad Mississippi in the foreground. Aside from the 

— 20- 



building already described there were others for officers' quart- 
ers and hospital purposes, also a stone powder magazine about 
9x12 feet inside. It was sunken partly into the ground so that 
the natural rocky ledge formed its floor. A stone arched roof 
covered it. In the center of the enclosure was a tall flag-staff. 
There were two sally ports opening" on to the island to the 
northeast and southeast. When the soliclers arrived, the 
island was covered by a heavy growth of timber, but in the 
vicinity of the fort it was all cleared away for the double pur- 
pose of procuring material for the buildings and removing 
shelter that might be used by the Indians in case of an attack. 

With the troops that came to build the fort was Col. George 
Davenport in the capacity of sustenance contractor's agent. He 
built a house on the island which still stands. He became an 
Indian trader and had his first trading post on the island. In 
1824 Russell Farnham arrived on the scene and entered into 
partnership with Col. Davenport. In 1826 they built a build- 
ing on the main shore, at the present junction of 29th Street 
and the C, R. I. & P. R. R. tracks as a trading post. This was 
the first building on the main land and later was known as the 
"House of John Barrel." In it was the first postoffice, hotel, 
and stage station. Here were held the first court, first election, 
and the first meeting of the county board. The settlement that 
sprung up around it came to be known as Farnhamsburg, and 
was the "metropolis" of the locality until the town of Stephenson 
came into existence in 1835. This gave place to the city of 
Rock Island in 1841. Col. Davenport continued to live on the 
island of Rock Island until his murder on July 4, 1845. Col. 
Davenport's two sons, George L. and Bailey, also passed their 
lives here and reached prominence as citizens and land owners 
on both sides of the Mississippi. 



Antoine Le Claire was another of the party that landed in 
1816, and stayed after the fort was abandoned to become a 
highly respected and picturesque member of the community at 
Davenport. He was of French and Indian blood (Potta- 
wattamie). He was educated in languages at the expense, of 
the government to serve as official Indian interpreter, in which 
capacity he was employed at Fort Armstrong. His home was 
in Davenport, which he laid out and named for his friend the 
Indian trader. A part of the city of Davenport is laid out on 
a section of land which was reserved by the Indians from the 
tract conveyed by the treaty of T832. This section of land the 
Indians presented to Mrs. Antonie Le Claire, the granddaughter 
of a .Sac chief, and the wife of their trusted friend. 

In Col. Davenport's employ was a Frenchman named 
Antoine Gouque, who was the first permanent settler in this 
vicinity. He was a hunter and trapper who was here when the 
troops arrived, having come down the river from the neighbor- 
hood of Prairie du Chien. In dress, habits, and appearance he 
was an Indian, but he was of pure French blood. His wife 
was a full blooded Fox Indian, fat and good natured, and very 
popular with the whites. Gouque and his family lived on the 
island on land afterwards included within the military prison 
enclosure during 1863-65. 

Fort Armstrong, although no battle ever was fought there, 
occupied a prominent place during the Indian troubles of 1831 
and 1832, and was the refuge of the early settlers from their 
first arrival in 1828 until the close of the Black Hawk War. It 
would require far more space than is here available to write a 
history of this war. The causes of the Black Hawk War were 
the refusal of Black Hawk and his band to recognize the 



validity of the treaty of 1804, in which refusal they were to 
some extent justified, and the love for their homes which they 
and their ancestors had occupied for more than a century and 
their veneration for the burial place of their dead. To this 
was added resentment of the impositions by the early white 
settlers, who in violation of justice and treaty obligations 
crowded in upon their fields, destroyed their crops, desecrated 
the graves of their dead, and took possession of their bark 
houses, while thousands of unoccupied acres of other land lay 
open for settlement. There were five white settlers within the 
Indian town of Saukenuk, when there were but two where the 
city of Rock Island now stands, but one in Moline, and none in 
Davenport ; all of these settlers being on land previously oc- 
cupied by the Indians, and at a time when miles of unoccupied 
territory surrounded the Indian village in every direction. 

When in 183 1 the Indians resented the encroachments of the 
whites on their village, and Black Hawk resented the demoral- 
ization of his young men by the sale of whiskey to them by the 
whites, some friction arose. The white settlers complained to 
the Governor of Illinois and the United States authorities, and 
the Indians were ordered to move across the Mississippi, which 
they refused to do. Thereupon the Governor of Illinois en- 
listed 1,600 militia who joined with the United States regulars 
under Gen. Gaines, from St. Bonis, to drive the Indians from 
their ancient home. The Indians evaded the issue of battle by 
quietly slipping across the river in the night. Thinking the 
trouble was over the militia were disbanded and the regulars 
returned to Jefferson Barracks, but before doing so burned the 
Indian town. 

In 1832 Black Hawk and the British band, grieving- over the 
■21 — 




Outline of the Foundation of the Block House on the East Angle of Fort Armstrong", 1916 

The depression in the foreground is plainly to be seen 



loss of their old home, resenting the treatment they had re- 
ceived, and still seeking to evade the terms of the treaty of 
1804, which they still insisted was invalid, recrossed the Mis- 
sissippi River at Yellow Banks and came by the way of the 
Indian trail to the mouth of Rock River. News of this move- 
ment of the Indians having reached the whites the Governor of 
Illinois again called out the militia, and in conjunction with 
federal troops, followed them up the valley of Rock River. 
After a series of battles and skirmishes, interspersed with fre- 
quent efforts to surrender, to which the whites gave no heed, 
the Indians were driven to southern Wisconsin where they 
attempted to escape their pursuers by crossing the Mississippi. 
Then occurred the battle of Bad Axe, at which most of those 
who had survived to that time were massacred without regard 
to age or sex, and Black Hawk, his son, and some of the other 
chiefs were captured. Black Hawk, in custody of Jefferson 
Davis, was brought down to the island of Rock Island, at that 
time the headquarters of Gen. Winfield Scott. Owing to a 
cholera epidemic prevailing at that time he was not taken on 
shore, but was sent on to Jefferson Barracks as a prisoner, in 
the custody of Jefferson Davis, and from there to Fortress 
Monroe, where Davis was afterwards himself confined, and 
after a trip through the principal cities of the east to show him 
the strength of the American nation and to convince him of the 
futility of opposing them, and incidentally for the amusement 



of the white people, he was returned to Rock Island, shorn of 
his power as a chief, and placed in the custody of Keokuk, who 
became responsible for his subsequent peaceful conduct. Chief 
Keokuk had for a long time been disposed to yield to the de- 
mands of the Americans for the land which had belonged to 
the Sac and Fox Indians in Illinois. The whites had great 
confidence in him. He and Black Hawk had been leaders of 
opposing Indian factions and it was a great humiliation to 
Black Hawk to have his defeat end in being subordinated to 
his opponent. 

The trouble with England ended with the Treaty of Ghent, 
and the trouble with the Indians ended with the termination of 
the Black Hawk War, and Fort Armstrong became unneces- 
sary. In 1836 the fort was evacuated and abandoned, and 
thereafter allowed to fall into decay, and 1855 a part of it was 
burned. The last vestige was removed when the railroad bridge 
was removed to its present location. Its right of way, as well 
as Fort Armstrong Avenue and the street railway tracks, pass 
directly through the site of old Fort Armstrong. The island 
of Rock Island, however, did not lose importance as years 
passed, for during the Civil War it was occupied by a military 
prison with a capacity of 12,000 prisoners, and at the close of 
this war was selected as the site of the chief arsenal of the 
United States. There is every reason to believe that future 
vears will see its importance increase many fold. 





° II 

"3 « * 



3 S 



Black Hawk's Vision 

Spirit of Great Sac Chief Revisits Glimpses of the Moon and 
Dreams of the Fighters of Yesterday 

By Robert Rexdale 



Down the long, dim valleys that stretch away, 
I dream of the fighters of yesterday, 

And I see the light of the watch-fire's glow, 
Where the rivers meet in their onward flow ; 

I hear the wolf on the lonely hill, 

And the low, sweet song of the whip-poo'-will, 

And out of the dark where the wigwams lie, 
An arrow is flaming across the sky ! 

The gray owl calls with a loud tu-whoo, 
From the battered prow of a war-canoe, 

I see the gdeam at the water's brink, 

Where the game came down in the night to drink, 

And far along by the wooded shore, 

I watch for the foe where he lurked of yore, 

As the stars fade heavenward one by one. 
And the hills uplift to the rising sun ! 

Down the long, dim valleys a spirit croons 
The deathless song of a thousand moons, 



I see the fort on the rocky ledge, 

Where the cave clips under the island's edge, 

And the bugle sounding the reveille 
Proclaims the dawn of the white man's clay i 

I see the path that his skill has blazed, 

And the works the might of his arm has raised. 

His children rule where my people trod, 

And their harvests spring from the blood-stained sod, 

As the trail winds on over plain and steep, 

Through the hallowed ground where the fighters sleep ! 

What matters it now where their bones may rest — 
It was knife to knife, it was breast to breast, 

I hear the twang of the bended bow, 
, And the muffled shot in the rocks below ; 

Though the scalp-lock falls from the warrior's hand, 
He died for his squaw and his native land, 

For men were the hunters and men the prey, 
And brave were the fighters of yesterday ! 




Rebuilt Block House, 1916, on the Site of the South Angle of Fort Armstrong 



PROGRAM 



Fort Armstrong Centennial Celebration 

June 18th -24th, 1916 



Sunday 

MORNING 
AFTERNOON 



EVENING 



HOME DAY 



June 18th 



Services in all the churches of the three cities with appropriate sermons, particularly on Home- 
coming, Peace, Preparedness, and Church Progress during the last hundred years. 

Sacred Band Concerts in — 

Fejervary Park, Davenport. 

Long View Park, Rock Island. 

Prospect Park, Moline. 
Services in many of the churches of the three cities, the pastors of several churches exchang- 
ing pulpits and delivering the morning's sermon. 




House of Col. George Davenport — Built, 1831 ; restored, 1906 

'This is probably the most historic house in Illinois or Iowa, and has given shelter and hospitality to more great 
than any other private residence of the United States." — Armstrong 



Monday 



FORT ARMSTRONG DAY 



June 19th 



SUNRISE 
MORNING 



Salute of one hundred guns on the river at the lower end of Rock Island. 
Celebration of the Founding of Fort Armstrong, 1816, and Dedication of the rebuilt Block 
House, on the lower end of the island and at the grandstand on Main Avenue. 

HISTORICAL NOTE 

Brig.-Gen. Thomas A. Smith in command of a regiment of Rifles and the Eighth U. S. In- 
fantry — the latter under the immediate command of Col. William Lawrence — landed on the island 
of Rock Island May 10, 1816, 800 strong, for the purpose of establishing a fortification to protect 
the line of communication, by way of the river, to the upper reaches of the Mississippi. General 
Smith did not remain long, but with his Rifles proceeded up the river to Fort Snelling, near St. 
Anthony's Falls, leaving Colonel Lawrence and the Eighth Infantry to erect the fort. It was 
named Fort Armstrong, in honor of the then secretary of war. The fort was in the form of a 
square with its four corners presented to the four points of the compass. It measured 270 feet on 
each of its sides. It was protected on the north, east, and south angles by block houses, the east 
one being the largest. The fort, though no battle was ever fought there, was the center of opera- 
tions during the Indian wars of 183 1 and 1832. From the time of the coming of the white settlers 
in 1828, until the treaty of September 21, 1832, which ended the Indian troubles, it was a place of 
refuge for the pioneers. Thereafter, there being no further need for the fort, it was vacated in 
1836 and permitted to fall into decay. 

A replica of the block house which formerly stood on the south angle of the Fort Armstrong 
enclosure has been erected upon its original site. The opening of the celebration is marked by the 
unveiling of this block house upon a signal given by President Woodrow Wilson, transmitted by 
wireless telephone from Washington, D. C. This ceremony is preceded by a dramatization of the 
landing of the troops under Brigadier-General Smith and Colonel Lawrence. They are seen com- 
ing up the river in keel boats, as they did one hundred years ago. Upon their landing the block 
house is unveiled, an 1812 flag is raised, and the salute fired. This is followed by the sounding of 
whistles and the ringing of bells in the tri-cities announcing the formal opening of the Fort Arm- 
strong: Centennial Celebration. 



■29 — 




First Bridge over the Mississippi River, Built in 1856 



Monday 



NOON 

AFTERNOON 
EVENING 



June 19th 

Because of lack of room on the lower point of the Island the remainder of the dedicatory pro- 
gram takes place at the grandstand, located on Main Avenue east of the entrance gates to the 
Rock Island Arsenal. Seats are reserved for the pioneers of Scott County, Iowa, and Rock Island 
County, Illinois. The program includes addresses by Ex-Governor Sam R. Van Sant, of Minne- 
sota, himself a pioneer of this locality ; Colonel George W. Burr, commandant of the Rock Island 
Arsenal ; and by representatives of the Daughters of the American Revolution. 

Grand Reunion of Old Settlers of Scott County, Iowa, and Rock Island County, Illinois ; 
Historical Associations and Home-Comers, with an old-fashioned basket picnic. Music, speaking, 
and a general good time. 

Dedication and marking of the old Arsenal Building, Pier of the First Bridge across the Mis- 
sissippi River, and the Davenport House. 

Burning of Saukenuk. 

HISTORICAL NOTE 

The Indian village of Saukenuk was located on Rock River, ahout three miles above its con- 
fluence with the Mississippi, at the western base of Black Hawk's Watch Tower. It is supposed to 
have been established in the early part of the eighteenth century, and was the largest Indian vil- 
lage in the west, and one of the largest within the present limits of the United States. Here the 
famous War Chief, Black Hawk, was born, and over its possession the Black Hawk Wars of 183 1 
and 1832 were fought. During the Revolutionary War Colonel George Rogers Clark, acting' under 
a commission from the Colony of Virginia, instituted a campaign for the recovery of the Northwest 
Territory from the British, the territory being then claimed by that commonwealth. While cam- 
paigning in the southern portion of the Illinois country he learned of the pro-British attitude of 
Sac and Fox Indians and detached a command under Colonel John Montgomery, with the village 
of these Indians on Rock River as its objective point, in 1780. The Indians were driven from their 
village and the village itself burned. 

The presentation of this takes place in front of the grandstand. The program opens with a 
band concert. Following this appears a portion of the tribe of Meskwaki (Fox) Indians, descend- 
ants of those who inhabited this locality, who present characteristic Indian dances and sports. 
This is followed by the Camp-fire Girls of the tri-cities in the presentation of ceremonials and 
— 31 — 



Monday 



June 19th 



songs. As darkness closes over the Island the village of Saukerrak is presented with its Indian ac- 
tivities. While their evening sports and ceremonials are at their height Colonel Montgomery's 
command arrives and the battle opens. There is a sharp conflict between the Indians and the 
whites, which results in the defeat of the Indians. The soldiers take possession of the village and 
burn it. As the embers are dying away, from its ruins the figure of a prophet arises, who foretells 
the downfall of the Indian before the encroachment of the whites and the ultimate establishment of 
a new civilization. 



Tuesday 

MORNING 



PIONEER DAY 



June 20th 



Visits to historical sites on both sides of the river marked by the Historical Section of the 
Davenport Academy of Sciences and the Rock Island County Historical Society. A guide is 
at each site to give needed information. 

Historic Spots Marked on the Iowa Side 

Site of the Treaty of the Black Hawk Purchase, 1832. About where Farnam Street would in- 
tersect Fifth Street. Marked at Fifth and Iowa Streets, about 450 feet west of the treaty site. 

Treaty Site House. The log house built by Antoine Le Claire in 1833 at the site of the Treaty 
of 1832. Now stands, boarded over and remodeled, in the rear of 420 West Fifth Street, near 
Scott Street. 

Claim House. Built by George L. Davenport in 1833, on the first claim taken up in the Black 
Hawk Purchase. The first frame house in Iowa. Now at 557 College Avenue. 

Site of the Treaty of 1836, conveying Keokuk reserve. In Prospect Park. 

Embankment leading to the first bridge across the Mississippi River. On East River Street, 
near Federal Street. 

Camp McClellan. Recruiting camp of the Civil War. Sioux prison. At East River Street 
and Camp McClellan Boulevard. 

— 33 — 





X -S 



H x 



Tuesday June 20th 

Location where ground was broken for the construction of the first railroad built beyond the 
Mississippi River, at Fifth and Rock Island Streets. 

First college building erected in Iowa. No. 517 West Seventh Street. Institution then called 
Iowa College ; now Grinnell College, at Grinnell, Iowa. 

Site where John Brown purchased supplies for his men at Springdale. On alley below Second 
Street on the west side of Brady Street. 

Site of house of Dr. John Emerson, owner of Dred Scott, the slave ; 223 East Second Street. 

House where Barclay Coppoc, John Brown refugee, was secreted following the Harper's Ferry 
fight. Now Wirtel & Drebing's trunk store, 220 Brady Street. 

Excellent views of Davenport can be secured from Prospect Park, from Riverview Terrace, 
from Lookout Park, from Fairmount Cemetery, and from the roof of the Putnam Building, Main 
and Second Streets. 

Historic Spots Marked on the Illinois Side 

Site of first power dam in Mississippi River. Guard House of 15th Street Bridge, Moline. 

Cabin site of Joel Wells, Sr., the first settler where Moline is now located. At First Avenue 
and 2 1st Street, Moline. 

Site of Moline's first mills and foundry, and John Deere's first plow shop. Just west of 15th 
Street Bridge, along the river bank, Moline. 

Site of home of Stephens, and his twenty negro slaves ; the only slaves held in Rock Is- 
land County. At Walker Station in Moline. 

Monument on Campbell's Island, commemorating the battle there in July, 1814. 

Location of the house of John Barrel, built by Russell Farnham and Col. George Davenport in 
1826, the first house on the Illinois side, the first stage station, the first hotel, the first postoffice, the 
first court room, the first place of election, the first meeting place of the county board, the center of 
Farnhamsburg, the first village on the Illinois side of the river. About 300 feet north of intersec- 
tion of Fifth Avenue and 29th Street, Rock Island. 
— 35 — 




Si 1 - 
o t 




2 H 

t X 

'a « 



H t 



Tuesday June 20th 

Rock Island House. Property used continuously as a hotel site since the early days of Steph- 
enson. Corner of Second Avenue and West 17th Street, Rock Island. 

Old jail property and sheriff's residence, where the "Banditti of the Prairie," who murdered 
Col. Davenport, were confined. On 15th Street, just back of the Modern Woodmen of America 
Building, Rock Island. 

Amos F. Cutter barn, 150 feet from the site of the gallows where the murderers of Col. Daven- 
port were hanged, and into which was built the lumber of which the gallows were built. On 13th 
Street between Third and Fourth Avenue, Rock Island. 

Sac corn fields showing "squaw-hills" undisturbed since the Indians' last cultivation in 183 1. 
Now covered with forest trees. Go east from marker on 12th Street south of Chippiannock Cem- 
etery, Rock Island. 

Remains of mound on which stood the Sac Council Lodge. Treaty of 1804 was reported here ; 
Keokuk was elected war-chief here in 1812; Lieut. Zebulon Pike brought here the first United 
States flag to be raised on the main land of the upper Mississippi River. This was the official 
headquarters of the Sac village which was burned by Col. John Montgomery in 1780— a part of the 
Revolutionary War, and which was again destroyed by fire by Illinois militia under Brig.-Gen. 
Joseph Duncan in the 183 1 campaign of the Black Hawk War; 100 yards west of the bridge over 
Rock River at the Davis: Power Plant. 

Ruins of the Sears' mill. From this spot Gen. E. P. Gaines shelled Yandruff's Island in 1831 
from the deck of the steamboat "Enterprise," to drive out Black Hawk and his hostile Indians. At 
the bridge over Rock River at the Davis Power Plant. 

Yandruff's Island. Gen. Joseph Duncan and 1,600 mounted Illinois militia, accompanied by 
Gov. John Reynolds and 'Staff, swept the Island in 183 1 in search of hostile Indians. On the site of 
the cabin of Joshua Yandruff part of the cellar wall still remains. It was here that Black Hawk, 
indignant over the sale to his Indians of "fire-water," visited Mr. Yandruff and destroyed his sup- 
ply of whiskey. East of; Main road across Island. 

Grave of Black Hawk's two children, and site of the cabin where he fasted and mourned their 



Tuesday 



AFTERNOON 



EVENING 



June 20th 

death for two years. At the extreme west end and highest point of Watch Tower bluff. From 
same .point may be seen the site of "Rock Island City," a purely western "boom" town of the early 
days, 1836. 

The first water power of this vicinity (Vandruff's) and the site of the first permanent water 
power dam across the south channel of Rock River ; the remnants of the state canal of 1837 ; the 
Yellow Banks trail ; the Maiden trail ; where the Rock River rangers and regulars shelled Van- 
druff's Island in 183 1 ; the location of a prehistoric pottery; the location of the legend of the French 
fiddler ; the location of the legend of the Indian lovers' spring ; the location of Lincoln's camp. All 
may be seen from the Watch Tower Inn. 

Gymnastic Exhibition by the Young' Men*s Christian Associations of Davenport, Rock Island, 
and Mohne. 

Grand Entry and Maze Run. Parallel Bars. 

Massed Dumb Bell Drill. Tumbling. 

Relay Races. The Grey Zouaves. 

Elephant Work. Wall Scaling and Finale. 

Electrically Illuminated Night Spectacular Pageant. 



PROGRESS 

An allegorical presentation of historical and industrial events by an electrically illuminated 
pageant on ten cars. These pass in review before the grandstand on Main Avenue. 

Car 1. The Flight of the Bird Spirit 
historical note 

There is a cave under the island of Rock Island about 150 feet in depth, the mouth of which is 
now closed by the abutment of the Government Bridge which spans the main channel of the Mis- 
sissippi River. According to Indian tradition this cave was inhabited by a white, bird-like spirit of 
immense size. The Indians believed this to be their good spirit and were wont to worship it. 
While it was not often seen by them its occasional appearance in the spring time presaged good 



Tuesday June 20th 

crops and, in the autumn time, successful hunts and an abundance of game. With the establish- 
ment of the fort immediately over the cave the bird spirit never returned, and it was their belief 
that the presence of the soldiers and their warlike activities caused it to fly away. With its de- 
parture the tables of their fortune were turned. The harvests grew less plentiful, the game be- 
came scarce, and in a few years their land and their homes were claimed by the whites. 

This legend is depicted with a great white bird in the foreground rising in flight. Below and 
on either side are white swans which appear as its guardians. In the rear is seen the mouth of 
the cave from which an Indian fairy queen is emerging. She is holding her right hand aloft and 
in it are gathered ribbons which float back from the beaks of the birds. They are seen soaring out 
over the bosom of the great river in their final flight. The car is brilliantly illuminated and is one 
of the most charming of the brilliant procession. 

Car 2. Coming of the White Man 
historical note 

The first white men to visit this locality were Marquette and Joliet, who, in May, 1673, 
started from Mackinac to seek the great river, rumors of which they had heard from the Indians. 
They followed the north shore of Lake Michigan into Green Bay, and ascending the Fox River 
portas'-ed to the Wisconsin River. Down this they floated until they reached the Mississippi River 
June 17th. They proceeded down the Mississippi, passing the island of Rock Island a few clays 
later. They continued to the mouth of the Arkansas, where their journey southward was discon- 
tinued, and they returned by the way of the Illinois River and Lake Michigan. Joliet's interest 111 
the undertaking was mercantile, but Marquette's was that of the zealous missionary who sought to 
locate the Indian tribes resident in the great valley that the church might extend the scope of its 
work and claim them as converts to its faith. 

This is shown as a water scene. In the background is the lower end of the island of Rock 
Island. On the water is a canoe. In the canoe is seen Joliet and Marquette, the later bearing aloft 
a blazing cross. With them are to be seen the Indian voyageurs. On the bow of the canoe is an 
old-fashioned torch in which bark is burning. 



% ■' 




.«^n^ ■ t 








Tuesday June 20th 

Car 3. The Coming of the Flag 
historical note 

The flag is the emblem of political possession. Wherever it is planted it signifies that the na- 
tion it represents claims sovereignty and that such nation has assumed to protect to the best of its 
ability all those who declare their allegiance. 

This car is purely allegorical. There is represented a frontier block house, a picturesque 
living figure representing "Columbia" is raising a flag. 

Car 4. Pioneers 
historical note 

Following the fur-trader, soldier, and frontiersman came the typical pioneer seeking to es- 
tablish a new home. They were a sturdy, self-reliant body of men and women who braved the 
dangers and hardships of a frontier life to prepare the country for the subsequent civilization 
which we enjoy. 

A clog and farm animals are grouped about. A man with an axe stands in the yard. In the 
rear and formine: a background is a log cabin, illuminated, with children in the doorway. 



Tuesday June 20th 

Car 5. Agriculture 
historical note 

After building shelters for himself and the members of his family, the pioneer's next move was 
to clear the land and bring the soil under cultivation. From this beginning, as time passed, mod- 
ern, scientific farming followed. Agricultural pursuits underlay every other form of industry and 
form the foundation for all subsequent prosperity. 

On the rear of this car is a tree bearing one hundred red lights imbedded in its foliage typify- 
ing the one hundred years of progress that we are now celebrating. In the foreground is a pro- 
fusion of agricultural products and trailing over and among these is a vine covered with leaves and 
flowers typical of nature's bounteous response to the agricultural efforts of man. Life is added to 
the scene by the presence of a lady seated in the midst of this profusion. 

Car 6. Lumber — Forest Riches 
historical note 

Shortly after the first pioneer settlers arrived saw mills were established and the native timber 
was cut to meet their needs. Then the great Mississippi was called upon to play its part and from 
the pine woods of the north lumber and logs were rafted. Great mills supplanted the early ones 
and the industry grew until it became the most important industry of this locality. 

The car represents the householder receiving from the forest nymph the gift of "Forest 
Riches." She is made to appear coming through the Arch of Success from a dense wood. On 
either side stand the protecting Fairies of the Deep Forest, in their garb of green bronze and bril- 
liant with the Light of Promise. 



Tuesday June 20th 

Car 7. Manufacturing 
historical note 

Because of the water power on Rock River near the site of Saukenuk and on the Mississippi 
River at Moline, manufacturing was early developed. In 1837 David B. Sears commenced the 
construction of a power dam between the island of Rock Island and the main Illinois shore. This 
formed the nucleus of a manufacturing center previous to the advent of steam. 

This car shows the Goddess of Industry, seated on her marble throne at the foot of the factory- 
studded Hills of Progress, presiding over the workers with her beacon light ever burning. 

Car 8. Commerce 
historical note 

The tri-cities were located on the Mississippi River, the commercial thoroughfare of the 
early day. The industrial growth, thus fostered and encouraged, was the magnet that brought the 
first railroad that reached the Mississippi to this point. Here, also, the first railroad on Iowa ter- 
ritory was built, and the two lines were connectei by the first bridge to span the Mississippi River. 
The growing west was thus made tributary to this commercial center and contributed to its de- 
velopment. 

The Queen of Commerce is depicted on a wharf as a foundation, with the boxes and barrels of 
her calling as a throne, presiding over the shipping, while on the high ground at the rear the first 
locomotive, the Antoine Le Claire, is seen crossing the Island. Back of it stands the clock tower 
of the Arsenal building and in the waters below is a passing river steamboat. 



Tuesday June 20th 

Car 9. Peace and Prosperity 

This car is surmounted by an angel figure of Peace'of heroic size. Around her winds the great 
Horn of Plenty from which pours a stream of unlimited riches which the "Queen of Wealth," in 
the foreground, with her wand turns to gold. 

Car 10. America 

This is the Car Triumphant — the final car of the pageant. Upon the Steps of Advancement 
stands the Goddess of Prosperity, mounted on the Wheel and Wings of Progress. These massive 
steps are draped with the national colors as protection and inspiration. These great flags are stud- 
ded with lights. Over the steps and on the backs of the great gilded lions, emblematic of Might, 
are seen hovering white doves — a dove for each of the one hundred years of continual progress we 
have made since the first flag flew over old Fort Armstrong. 




O 5 "o 

It 1 So) 



H g' 

<■ 1 ' 




Wednesday 

MORNING 



AFTERNOON 



LADIES' AND HISTORICAL DAY 



June 21st 



Ladies' Floral Parade in each of the three cities. 

Three hundred cars owned and driven by the cream of society of Davenport, Rock Island, and 
Moline, beautifully decorated with many striking and novel effects. The route of the parade is 
over the principal streets of all three cities. 

Historical Pageantry at the grandstand on Alain Avenue. 

The Earliest Wedding 
historical note 

A pair of young pioneers bent on matrimony came to the trading post on the island of Rock 
Island searching for minister or magistrate. Neither were there. Col. George Davenport, relying 
upon the authority of his commission as postmaster, married them. 

The young folks come to the Davenport home on the Island and ask to be married. Mrs. Dav- 
enport, sympathizing with them, adds a festive touch to the bride's costume and persuades Colonel 
Davenport to do his best. The frontier neighbors attracted by the incident join in a dance and 
merry-making. 

1829. Black Hawk, Jonah H. Case and the Peace Pipe 

HISTORICAL NOTE 

Among those who settled in the Sac village were Jonah H. Case and family. They moved 
into an Indian house about where Fifteenth Street projected would cross Nineteenth Avenue in the 
city of Rock Island. The house was built of posts, and sided and roofed with the bark of trees. 
They proceeded to use corn and vegetables from the cache of the absent Indians. In a few days 
Black Hawk appeared and protested this invasion of his own private property. Mr. Case in order 
to appease the indignant chief made a cash settlement with him, which pleased Black Hawk to 
such an extent that he soon returned with a peace pipe. This he smoked with Mr. Case and then 
presented it to him as a token of satisfaction. From that time on they remained fast friends. This 
peace pipe has been recently presented to the Rock Island County Historical Society by Mrs. R. A. 
McEachron, granddaughter of Mr. Case. 

The presentation of the pipe is shown in the dramatization of the incident. 
— 55 — 




Keokuk, a Chief of the Sacs, and his Son 




Black Hawk, a War Chief of the Sacs 



Wednesday June 21st 

1831. Spencer's Ride 
historical note 

When the Sacs and Foxes became threatening in 183 1 and a general massacre of early settlers 
seemed imminent, Judge J. W. Spencer visited the scattered homes of the pioneers and warned 
them of the danger. Whereupon they fled to the protection of Fort Armstrong. 

This incident is dramatized by having Judge Spencer note a war dance of the Indians around 
the camp fire and then riding from cabin to cabin giving- warning of the impending danger. This 
is followed by a flight of the settlers to safety. 

1832. Enlistment for the Black Hawk War 
historical note 

Pursuant to the call for volunteers by Gov. Reynolds, of Illinois, about 2,000 men enlisted. 
Among them was Abraham Lincoln. These men were organized into companies, selected their 
officers, and were sworn in. Abraham Lincoln was elected captain, the first position he filled under 
the government. Near the present site of Milan the martyred president took his first oath of al- 
legiance to the United States. 

This incident is represented by the gathering of recruits at the headquarters of the mustering 
officer. In accordance with custom the men chose their officers by those nominated taking position 
and their adherents falling in behind them. 

1832. Treaty of the Black Hawk Purchase 
historical note 
The prevalence of yellow fever among the troops at Fort Armstrong caused the treaty ending 
the Second Black Hawk War to be concluded on the site of Davenport. The United States com- 
missioners were Gen. Winfield Scott and Gov. John Reynolds. The Indians were represented by 
numerous chiefs, among them Keokuk and Pashapaho of the Sacs, and Poweshiek and Wapello of 
the Foxes. Antoine Le Claire was interpreter. The eastern portion of Iowa was transferred and 
has been called the Black Hawk Purchase. A square mile of land now covered by the city of Dav- 
enport was reserved from transfer and was given to Mrs. Antoine Le Claire by Keokuk. 




Poweshiek, a Chief of the Foxes, 

chose village was on the site of the city of Davenport 




Wapello, a Chief of the Foxes, 

whose village was on the site of the city of Rock Island 



Wednesday June 21st 

The treaty group is made up of commissioners, army officers from the fort, and a few wit- 
nesses. In this incident is introduced an occurrence of one of' the many treaties of this period — a 
protest of squaws, who contend that theirs is the ownership of the land as they till the soil. 

1841. The First Duel in Iowa 
historical note 

Soon after the completion of the handsome Le Claire House in Davenport, in 1839, this com- 
munity was sought by people from the east and south, who rusticated, hunted on the prairies, and 
added greatly to the social life of the infant cities. Among the group of transients in 1841 were 
four young men named Hegner, Sperry, Finch, and Ralston. They attended a dance at the Rock 
Island House one evening, and Ralston and Hegner quarreled over their rivalry for the smiles of 
Miss Sophia Fisher, a Davenport belle. The result of the quarrel was a duel on the Iowa side at 
sunrise, shots being exchanged at twenty paces. Dr. P. Gregg patched up Hegner's right arm, 
everybody shook hands, and principals and seconds adjourned for a drink at the Le Claire House. 
The officers of the law chased all concerned in the challenge and duel out of the community. 

The ball is shown and the dispute because Miss Fisher had promised the same dance to both 
Ralston and Hegner. The second scene portrays the duel, wherein Ralston offers to compromise, 
and on refusal promises to wing his antagonist, which he did with entire promptness at the count 
of three. 

1845. Farewell to Col. Davenport by Indian Friends 

historical note 

Soon after the murder of Col. George Davenport, his grave near his home on the island of 
Rock Island was visited by a band of Fox Indians, who performed a strange arid interesting cere- 
mony of farewell, making use of a post of white cedar. This post is in the collection of the Rock 
Island County Historical Society. Col. Davenport was presented by his Indian friends with many 
slaves, these slaves being those killed in battle by the braves taking part in the ceremony of paint- 
ing the post. 

The ceremonies as depicted are in accordance with the description of the editor of the Daven- 
port Gazette, Alfred Sanders, who witnessed the event. 
— 59 — 




Logan Ka-ka-que, Grandson of Black Hawk, 19 16 

Resides on the Sac Reservation in Oklahoma 




Se-us-kuk, Son of Black Hawk 

"The finest looking Indian I ever saw."— Catlin 



Wednesday 



June 21st 



John Brown and the Underground System 
historical note 



EVENING 



John Brown was a visitor to this community during the time when the escape of southern 
slaves was being aided by the system known as the "Underground Railroad." 

In the scene a wagon load of colored people is being smuggled to Canada and freedom. 

Our Country 

The closing scene of the- afternoon of historical pageantry is meant to typify our pride in the 
past of our country and our hope in its future. In the tableau appears the impersonation of Lib- 
erty, her defenders, veterans of the wars in her defense, and the youth upon whom depends the 
sacred trust of her perpetuity. On one side of the group stands a group of the soldiers of the War 
of 1812 bearing a banner inscribed, "Fort Armstrong. 1816; Safety of the Pioneer." On the other 
side is a group of present day soldiers with a banner, "Rock Island Arsenal, 1916; Safety of the 
Nation." 

Special Fireworks Display, "Old Mexico," at Exposition Park, Rock Island. 



— Gl — 





Man- Ka-ka-que, Great-great-granddaughter of Black Hawk 

A graduate of Haskell Indian School 



Jesse Ka-ka-que, Great-grandson of Black Hawk 

A successful farmer on the Indian Reservation in Jackson County, Kansas 



Thursday 

MORNING 
AFTERNOON 



EVENING 



INDUSTRIAL AND FRATERNAL DAY June 22d 

Martial Session before the grandstand on Main Avenue. Battery B, Iowa National Guard, 
and companies of Illinois National Guard go through various drills and manuevers. 

Industrial-Fraternal Parade in all three cities. 

The workers of the tri-cities, many thousand strong, march through the streets of Davenport, 
Rock Island, and Moline. Practically every labor organization in the tri-cities is represented by a 
large delegation. Practically every business house and manufactory in the vicinity of the tri-cities 
have floats, many of them elaborate in detail and built at much expense. The automobile floats 
parade in all three cities. Each of the 250 lodges of the three cities have invited their brother or- 
ganizations for several hundred miles around. It is estimated that 5,000 visiting lodgemen, exclu- 
sive of the state convention of the B. P. O. E. in session in Davenport, are in attendance and will 
march in the parade. 

Illuminated River Pageant— "Visit of Neptune to the Father of Waters." 

The power boat clubs of Davenport, Rock Island, and Moline with their four hundred craft of 
all sizes, shapes, and descriptions, ranging from the champion, "Ugly Duckling," to the scows 
used by the shell fishers, greet "Neptune" as he makes his voyage of state up the majestic Missis- 
sippi River. 



Friday 

MORNING 
AFTERNOON 



YOUNG AMERICA DAY 



June 23d 



Children's Parade in each citv. 



Thousands of children in each of the three c'ties are under the charge of the school superin- 
tendents. 

Flag Drills, Field Day Sports, Folk Songs, Baby Pageant, etc., on the Island. 

MONSTER LIVING FLAG 

This flag is formed in front of the grandstand and while in formation various choruses are 
sung. 

THE MELTING POT 

An exposition of all nations becoming- Ameri :ans through the American spirit. These various 
nations will be absorbed by the "Living Flag." 



EVENING 



Saturday 



AFTERNOON 



FIELD SPORTS, GAMES, ETC. 

Grand Review composed of the Electrical Spectacular Pageant and the more ambitious entries 
in the various parades of the week. 

June 24th 

Midsummer Fete of the Swedish Societies at Prospect Park, Moline. 




Part of Indian Memorial Post 

Placed at the grave of Col. George Davenport by a band of Fox Indians 
Now in the collection of the Rock Island County Historical Society 

— 64 — 



The Fort Armstrong Centennial Association 




jHE idea of celebrating the Fort Armstrong centenary 
HP II had been in mind for some months when on Sep- 
i ' tember 3, 1915, a meeting of the Board of Directors 
of the Rock Island County Historical Society was 
held at the home of its secretary, Mr. John H. Hau- 
berg, with the following members present : Mrs. K. T. Ander- 
son, Sherman W. Searle, William A. Meese, Joseph B. Oakleaf, 
Judson D. Metzgar, Orrin S. Holt, Edwin B. McKown, and 
John H. Hauberg ; and by special invitation, Col. George W. 
Burr, Commandant at Rock Island Arsenal. The one out- 
standing purpose in the minds of those present was to use this 
occasion to bring to the minds of our people the wealth of his- 
toric interest of our own immediate vicinity. It was resolved 
at this meeting that the block house which stood at the south 
angle of Fort Armstrong should be restored, and that the 
President of the Historical Society, S. W. Searle, should ap- 
point two men from each of the cities of Davenport, Iowa, Mo- 
line and Rock Island, Illinois, who, with himself as chairman, 
should prepare plans for a celebration and report back to the 
Board of Directors within a month. On this committee were 
appointed Edward K. Putnam and Harry E. Downer, repre- 
senting the Historical Section of the Davenport Academy of 
Sciences ; William A. Meese and Judson D. Metzgar, of Moline, 
and Orrin S. Holt and John H. Hauberg, of Rock Island. Their 
report to the Board of Directors of the Rock Island County 



Historical Society, as adopted, contained the following recom- 
mendations : 

That a celebration be held the last full week of June, 1916, 
on Rock Island, if permission could be bad ; that an organization 
of one hundred men be effected ; that such proposed organization 
be incorporated ; that one of the block houses be restored ; that 
a feature be made of soldiers of the U. S. Army and of the 
National Guard of Illinois and of Iowa ; that an historic 
pageant be staged ; that speakers of national prominence be 
secured ; that civic, fraternal, and commercial bodies be invited 
to participate ; that we have parades, water carnivals, and fire- 
works, and that a general home-coming for the three cities be 
held. 

It was necessary to have permission of the proper United 
States authorities to erect the block house ; to hold the 
celebration on the Island, and to secure United States 
troops. Our communications in this behalf received in turn 
the endorsements of George W. Burr, Lt.-Col. Ordnance 
Department, Commanding; William Crazier, Brig.-Gen., Chief 
of Ordnance, U. S. A. ; W. M. Wright, Adjutant-General ; 
E. H. Crowder, Judge Advocate-General ; and by order 
of the Secretary of War, W. C. Bennett, Adjutant-Gen- 
eral, and E. B. Babbitt, Col. Ordnance Department, U. S. A. 
Permission to build the block house and to stage the celebration 
on the Island was granted, and it was understood that United 
States troops in considerable force would be sent if foreign 
relations permitted. 



Now that the way was clear, the committee of one hundred 
was called to attend a banquet at the Rock Island Club, where, 
after a number of stirring addresses, a petition was signed for 
incorporation, not for pecuniary profit, under the laws of the 
state of Illinois, and a board of twenty directors elected to take 
control of the activities of "The Fort Armstrong Centennial As- 
sociation."' 

Thursday of each week, dating from January 10, 1916, has 



seen a meeting of this Board, augmented week after week by 
the addition of members of committees. George D. Benson, of 
Chicago, was engaged as director-general, and as the plans de- 
veloped, the organization increased in momentum and in 
promise of success. 

The personnel of officers and committees, who gave of their 
best that this might be the greatest celebration ever attempted 
by the three cities jointly, is as follows : 



Alfred C. Mueller 

Joe R. Lane 

C. A. Ficke 

Col. Geo. W. French 

W. D. Petersen 

A. F. Dawson 

P. T. Walsh 

J. J. Richardson 

E. P. Adler 

Dr. G E. Decker 

Henry Vollmer 

W. J. McCullough 

Paul Lagomarcino 

H. E. Weeks 

Oswald Becker 

Judge Win. Theophilus 

Judge J. W. Bollinger 

R. H. Harned 

N. D. Ely C. N. Voss 



COMMITTEE 

DAVENPORT 

Harry E. Downer 

Edward K. Putnam 

Henry Karwarth 

Fred Lischer 

W. T. Waterman 

William Korn 

Carl E. Schlegel 

John F. Dow 

j. W. Bettendorf 

J. Clark Hall 

Geo. M. Bechtel 

I. C. Norwood 

C. E. Harrison 

C. W. Pinneo 

S. H. Moorhead 

Capt. W. A. Shirk 

William Heuer 

Judge Nathaniel French 

J. H. Hass Charles Shuler 



OF ONE HUNDRED 

Col. Geo. W. Burr 
Col. Cooper 



Phil Mitchell 
H. S. Cable 
Frank Mixter 
Morris S. Heagy 
John G. Huntoon 
F. K. Rhoads 

B. D. Connelly 
Chas. J. Larkiri 
Chas. Esplin 

H. H. Cleaveland 
F. C. Denkmann 
S. S. Davis 

C. E. Sharpe 

David Sears, Sears, 111. 
W. J. Spencer, Sears, 111. 



ISLAND ARSENAL 

Maj. D. M. King 
Capt. A. D. Minnick 

<OCK ISLAND 

Geo. H. Richmond 

E. C. Fisher 

E. H. Guyer 

Gustav Andreen 

J. T. Marron 

S. W. Searle 

Orrin S. Holt 

John H. Hauberg 

W. S. McCombs 

W. J. Sweeney 

K. T. Anderson 

W. F. Ammerman 

H. W. Horst J. L. Vernon 

A. A. Buffum, Edgington, 111. 

Lewis Guldenzopf , Milan, 111. 



Wm. Butterworth 
G. A. Stephens 
M. R. Carlson 
O. F. Anderson 
A. T. Foster 
R. S. Hosford 
A. G. Abraham 
W. A. Meese 



J. D. Metzgar 
Maufitz Johnson 
Dr. W. E. Taylor 
Lowrie Blanding 
Geo. W. Mixter 
C. P. Skinner 
P. S. McGlynn 
Harrv Ainsworth 



C. S. Kerns 

W. H. Whiteside 

R. S. Haney 

M. J. McEniry 

J. B. Oakleaf 

Geo. W. Ross. East Moline 

A. B. Johnson, East Moline 



E. E. Morgan 
Henry Gripp 
G. H. Schorbeck 
R. S. Woodburn 

Geo. W. McMurphy, Hillsdale 
J. W. Simonson, Port Byron 



Dr. W. R. Freek, Cordova Dr. W. H. Lyford, Port Byron 



OFFICERS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, AND COMMITTEES 



President — I. C. Norwood, Davenport. 
Vice-President — PI. S. Cable, Rock Island. 



Vice-President — A. F. Dawson, Davenport. 
Secretary — J. H. Hanberg, Rock Island. 



Treasurer — J. T. Marron, Rock Island. 



DAVENPORT 



H. E. Weeks 
A. F. Dawson 
E. K. Putnam 



DAVENPORT 

I. C. Norwood 
F. B. Yetter 



W. J. McCullongh 
R. H. Harned 
I. C. Norwood 



BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

MOLINE 

G. A. Stephens 
E. E. Morgan 
Wm. Butterworth 

COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN 



ROCK ISLAND 

S. S. Davis J. T. Marron 



H. S. Cable 
S. W. Searle 



Chas. Esplin 
J. H. Hauliers 



LOOK ISLAND MOLINE 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 

H. H. Cleaveland E. E. Morgan 

FINANCE COMMITTEE 

H. W. Cozad M. J. McEniry 



DAVENPORT ROCK ISLAND MOLINE 

BLOCK HOUSE COMMITTEE 

W. J. McCullough Phil Mitchell G. A. Stephens 

HOME-COMING AND INFORMATION COMMITTEE 

E. P. Adler H. P. Simpson E. E. Morgan 

67 — 



DAVENPORT 



HOCK ISLAND 



PAGEANT AND PROGRAM COMMITTEE 

H. E. Downer O. S. Holt C. P. Skinner 

E. K. Putnam S. W. Searle J. H. Haviberg 

PRESS AND PUBLICITY COMMITTEE 

F. D. Throop H. H. Cleaveland P. S. McGlynri 

YOUNG AMERICA DAY COMMITTEE 

F. L. Smart E. C. Fisher L. A. Mahonev 



DAVENPORT ROCK ISLAND MOLINE 

PREMIUMS AND PRIZES COMMITTEE 

H. E. Scharff I. J. Green M. J. Copelaud 

TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE 

Chairman at Large — J. G. Huntoon. 
T. F. Halhgan W. A. Rosenfield A. R. Ebl 

MUSIC COMMITTEE 

G. Decker French M. E. Strieter W. H. Whitsitt 



INDUSTRIAL COMMITTEE 

Sam T. White C. E. Sharpe A. C. Barber J. H. Schaefer 

FLORAL COMMITTEE 

Mrs. H. E. Weeks Mrs. Frank Mixter Mrs. G. A. Stephens John Berwald 

FRATERNAL COM M ITTEE 

Fred Wernentin, Jr. James McNamara Martin R. Carlson 



CONCESSIONS COMMITTEE 

H. A. Clevenstine G. S. Fitzgibbons 

INVITATION COMMITTEE 

Wm. McConochie Martin R. Carlson 



Corner-stone of the Rebuilt Block House 



The corner-stone of the rebuilt block house on the site of the 
south angle of Fort Armstrong was laid under the auspices of 
Augustana College and Theological Seminary, May 10, 1916, 



this date being the centenary of the landing- of Gen. T. A. 
Smith, Col. William Lawrence, and the United States troops. 



i"73 
i699 

1762 
1763 

1780 



1783 



1803 



CHRONOLOGY 

□ D □ 

June. .Marquette and Joliet come down the Mississippi, 1804 Nov. 3. First Sac and Fox treaty cedes to United States 

passing the island of Rock Island. territory between the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. 

(About). French occupy Mississippi Valley. 1805 August. Lieutenant Zebulon Pike ascends Mississippi 

River, carrying the American flag and visits the Sac 

French and Indian war Indians. 

France cedes to Spain territory west of Mississippi war of 1812 

River. 1814 May. General William Clark passes up the river to es- 

England wins from France the territory east of Missis- tablish a fort at Prairie du Chien. Skirmish with Sac 

sippi River. and Fox Indians. 

revolutionary war l ^ I 4 J lu . v r 9- Battle of Campbell's Island. Captain John 

Campbell defeated by Indians with British sympathies. 
A detachment of American troops under Lt.-Col. John 

Montgomery destroys the Sac village of Saukenuk 1814 Sept. 5. Battle of Credit Island. Zachery Taylor, Bre- 

at mouth of Rock River. This was a part of the George vet Major, defeated by British and Indians. 

Rogers Clark expedition that" saved the Northwest to rg Part of Sacg and Foxfis make thdr home on Missouri 

the colonies. Illinois at this time was a county of Vir- t>- - 

. . J River, 
gima. 

t, ., 1 . ,, ,, , , w t1 tt v 1 181 S Sept. 8. Eighth U. S. Infantry, in command of ' Col. R. 

By the treaty closing the Revolutionary War, the United D _ L T . . , , , „ T . ,,., r , t-> 1 

c 1 x ' r ' t- 1 1 .i . ' -^ i Ji G. Nichols, left St. Louis to establish a fort on Rock 
States secures from England the territory east ot the 

. . . . - D . Island. 
Mississippi Kiver. 

Spain cedes back to France the territory west of the ^15 Sept. 13-14. Treaties with the Missouri River Sacs .and 

Mississippi River. Foxes at St. Louis. Treaty of 1804 confirmed. 

France sells to the United States the territory west of .1815 Expedition to build fort on Rock Island goes into winter 

the Mississippi River — the Louisiana Purchase. quarters at site of Warsaw. 

— 69 — 



1816 May 10. United States troops land on Rock Island to 
establish Fort Armstrong. Brevet General T. A. Smith 
with Rifle regiment and Eighth U. S. Infantry under 
Lt.-Col. William Lawrence. 

1818 Illinois admitted as state. 

1823 First steamboat arrived. 

1825 Col. George Davenport commissioned postmaster. 

1826 First house built on Illinois side by Col. George Daven- 
port and Russell Farnham. Afterward known as "John 
Barrel House." 

1827 Ferry established between Fort Armstrong and Iowa 
shore by Col. Davenport. 

1828 Eight settlers arrive on Illinois side in winter. 
1828 Keokuk and followers go to live on Iowa River. 

BLACK HAWK WARS 

183 1 Spring. Black Hawk warns settlers to leave. 

1831 April 30. Settlers petition Governor of Illinois for pro- 
tection from hostile Indians. 

183 1 June 20. Illinois militia and U. S. soldiers shell Van- 
druff's Island, opposite Black Hawk's Watch Tower. 

183 1 June 26. Saukenuk burned. 

1831 June 30. Treaty at Fort Armstrong with Black Hawk, 
who agrees to remain west of the Mississippi River. 
End of the first Black Hawk War. 



1832 April 6. Black Hawk and his band cross the Mississippi 
River at Yellow Banks on their way to Rock River. 

1832 Aug. 24. Battle of Bad Ax and capture of Black Hawk 
ends second Black Hawk War. 

1832 Sept. 15. Treaty with Winnebagoes at Fort Armstrong. 

1832 Sept. 21. Treaty with Sacs and Foxes on what is now 
Davenport cedes eastern portion of Iowa, the "Black 
Hawk Purchase," to the United States. 

1833 Antoine Le Claire built "Treaty Site" house in Daven- 
port. 

1833 First frame house built in Davenport by George L. Dav- 
enport. 

1834 Dr. John Emerson, post surgeon, brings his slave, Dred 
Scott, to Fort Armstrong from St. Louis. 

1834 Ferry between Illinois and Iowa shores established by 
Antoine Le Claire. 

1835 Town of Stephenson founded. Settlement had earlier 
been known as Farnhamsburg. Name changed to Rock 
Island in 1841. 

1836 May 4. Fort Armstrong evacuated. Troops removed to 
Fort Snelling. 

1836 Town of Davenport founded. 

1836 Sept. 28. Treaty with Sacs and Foxes at Davenport. 
Sale of Keokuk reserve, on Iowa River in Southeastern 
Iowa, 



1837 Water power developed by D. B. Sears between island 
of Rock Island and Illinois shore. 

1845 J ur > 7 4- Gol. George Davenport murdered at his home 
on Rock Island by the "Banditti of the Prairie." 

1846 Iowa admitted as a state. 

1854 Feb. 22. Chicago & Rock Island Railroad completed. 

1854 Oct. 8. Barracks and one block house of Fort Arm- 
strong burned. 

1855 Oct. 7. Another portion of Fort Armstrong burned. 

1856 April 21. First train crosses first Mississippi bridge. 

1858 John Brown comes to Davenport. Underground rail- 
way. 

1859 May 23. Officers' quarters, Fort Armstrong, destroyed 
bv fire. 



1 86 1 Sept. 25. Death of Antoine Le Claire. 

CIVIL WAR 

1862 July 11. Congress makes appropriation to build national 
arsenal on island of Rock Island. Work commenced on 
first arsenal building following year. 

1863 Dec. 3. Arrival of the first detachment of Confederate 
prisoners confined 011 Rock Island. These were captured 
at Lookout Mountain. Total number during the war 
was over 12,000. 

1865 Present shops of Rock Island Arsenal planned by Gen. 
T. J. Rodman. 



1872 Oct. 2. Second Mississippi bridge completed. 
1895 Second bridge replaced by present structure. 




Black Hawk's Tomahawk 

Owned by the Rock Island County Historical Society 





Gen. Winfield Scott, 

Commander of United States troops in the Black Hawk Wa 
with headquarters on the island of Rock Island 



Under Many Flags 



Iowa Side 



Illinois Side 



Mound Builders. 

Indians. 

Before 1762. France. 

1762-1801. Spain. 

1801-1803. France. 
Since 1803. United. States. 



1803-1804. "Louisiana Purchase." 

1804-1805. Indiana Territory. 

1805-1812. Louisiana Territory. 

1812-1821. Missouri Territory. 

1821-1834. Unorganized territory. 

1832. Ceded by Sues and Foxes. 

1834-1836. Michigan Territory. 

1836-1838. Wisconsin Territory. 

1 838- 1 846. Iowa Territory. 

Since 1846. Iowa State. 



Mound Builders. 

Indians. 

Before 1763. France. 

1763-1783. England. 

Since 1783. United States. 



1783-1788. Claimed by Virginia, Connecticut, and New 

York. Ceded to Federal Government.. 

1788-1800. Northwest Territory. 

1800-1809. Indiana Territory. 

1804. Ceded by Sacs and Foxes. 

1809-1818. Illinois Territory. 

Since 1818. Illinois State. 



-73- 




The John A. Dix, Seventh Engine of the Mississippi & Missouri Railroat 

Taken over the river on the ice in the winter of 1855 



Commandants of Rock Island Arsenal 

□ n □ 

MAJ. C. P. KTNGSBERY 1863-1865 

GEN. THOMAS J. RODMAN 1865-1871 

COL. D. W. FLAGLER 1871-1886 

COL. THOMAS G. BAYLOR 1886-1889 

COL. J. M. WHITTEMORE 1889-1892 

COL. A. R. BUFFINGTON 1892-1897 

CAPT. S. E. BLUNT 1897-1907 

LT.-COL. F. E. HOBBS 1907-1911 

LT.-COL. GEORGE W. BURR 1911 





Official Photographei 
J. B. Hostetler 
Davenport, Iowa 



